May 2010

When I first started using coupons in July 2009, I was more on the timid side.  If a manager told me that I couldn’t use the coupon, even if I knew I could, I would say ok and be done with it.  I think I was that way partly because I didn’t feel like I knew enough about coupons to defend my purchase.  After a few months, I knew how coupons were supposed to work and I definitely started standing up for the coupon deals I had.  It made a huge difference with the managers or cashiers I talked with.  When you feel confident and can tell others how their own coupons work, you can usually help out a confused manager or cashier.  I want all of you to have that same confidence when you use coupons and get your deals.

The most important thing you can do for yourself is take a copy of the store’s corporate coupon policy with you! Take it each and every time you shop!  If you have a coupon binder, just keep it in there.  If you don’t, keep a copy in your wallet or someplace with your coupons so you don’t forget it.  If you ever have a problem with a cashier or manager not accepting your valid coupon, then show them their own coupon policy. I cannot tell you how many managers are absolutely clueless when it comes to coupons.  They don’t understand how they work and definitely don’t understand that us using coupons actually makes them money!

On each coupon, it states that the manufacturer will reimburse the store for the face value of the coupon plus a handling amount.  Usually it is around 8 cents.  I have seen them as high as 16 cents per coupon though.  So, places like Wal-Mart and Target are making 8- 16 cents for every single coupon you are using.  And although they should, some managers don’t realize this.  So, now you know that it is profitable for the stores to take your coupon.  It is now ammo to use if you run into an unwilling cashier.

After showing a cashier or manager a coupon policy, they should take your coupons.  If for some strange, strange reason they don’t want to follow their own corporate policy, that is when you pull out the big guns.  Take down their name and tell them you will be calling corporate the second you leave the store and letting them know that they are not following corporate policy.  If that doesn’t work, then you really will need to contact corporate through either email or phone.  Corporate actually WANTS to know when a store won’t accept your valid coupons.  So, they will help fix your problem.  And, in the future, you won’t have the problem again at that store.  And you probably helped out a lot of your fellow coupon users by being the one to stand up to the incorrect coupon proceedures.

Ok, I know that this probably sounds really dreadful to a lot of you. You may be completely happy with not saying anything or standing up for your deals.  I will say that I have never had it go to the point of telling a manager I will be contacting corporate.  But, I also live in an area that uses a lot of coupons.  So some other brave person probably did the ground work before me.  However, I have had to whip out the store’s coupon policy before. So, please, please take it with you! It will save you a lot of headaches.  Plus, I don’t want any of you to get frustrated at the beginning of your coupon journey! To print out a copy of the Target Coupon Policy, go here. To print out a copy of the Wal-mart coupon policy, go here.

Walgreens is the ONLY store that I know of that does not have a corporate policy.  In this case, you will need to find a Walgreens manager or store that understands how to use coupons.  I drive 15 minutes to my favorite Walgreens, even though I have one 5 minutes away.  And, I don’t even find it annoying because I never have problems using my coupons at the store that is further away.  The manager is consistent with how he will accept coupons.  So I don’t have problems.  If I can get a bunch of items for free at Walgreens with my coupons, I will gladly drive as far as I need to.  It is a fair trade to me.

If you are new to using coupons, don’t get upset or frustrated.  Just start educating yourself.  I am making it my personal goal to help you all with this.  Like I said earlier, read the Couponing 101 section. That is a good place to start!  There is a way to hand your coupons to a cashier to not have it beep at you. Plus, I have given you the rules of Walgreens.  All of that is included in the Couponing 101 section.

**On a side note, please make sure you are nice and polite to the cashiers.  Many of them are hesitant to take coupons because they don’t want to get in trouble for doing something they are not supposed to.  Besides, the nicer you are, the more willing they will be to help you figure out the coupon problem. Thanks Lee for reminding me!  It is very important!

Malea blogs at Freebies 2 Deals. She is a new stay-at-home mom who is working to find a balance between bargain hunting and taking care of her new baby.

I don’t know about your area, but it is sooooo hot outside. Triple digits and it’s only mid-June! Try this cheap summer water activity when it’s time to stop doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen and spend some quality time with the kids.

Pick up several $0.99 bottles (mine are from Home Depot) that you would normally use for cleaning and simply fill them with water. A lot more affordable than those toy water guns by far! We have had so much fun with these. I am talking laugh out loud, big belly laughs fun!!! Talk about stress relief!!

COLD TIP – put the water filled bottles in the fridge so cold water hits you. Oh my!!! Sends a chill up my spine thinking about it.

Those bottles can sure spray a long distance — better watch out!!!

Lisa blogs at The Spot to Save. The one SPOT to find daily deals, savings, tips and more to stretch your dollar the most.

This is a guest post courtesy of my friend Carol who blogs over at Crazy Coupon Carol. I featured this post in February. We all know how important it is to save money when you are on a tight budget, but when you pay with food stamps there are a few tips you need to know to make sure you get the biggest bang for your dollar.

It is said “Into every life some rain must fall.” but I would like to know exactly who’s definition of “some” we are working under and exactly where is this rain gauge we are using because heavens to Betsy there seems to be a ton of rain on my porch!

Without creating a snooze fest of a post, 2009 brought lots of changes to my family and financial situation.  My children’s father, my husband, chose to “opt out” of fatherhood and our marriage because we were cramping his style.  I took my children and we moved in with my father, 200 miles from my husband. I have two very small, very wonderful children.  As I type this, my beautiful 2-year-old daughter and my amazing 11-month-old son are asleep on the bed beside me. .

Being a single mother is an extremely hard job.  Especially when you go 8 months with no child support.  As a result, I have had to educate myself extensively on social services and low income programs available to me and my children to survive and provide them with a quality of life that they deserve.

When you end up on your face outside of the DHS office there isn’t a whole lot of help or guidance offered here in TN.  I am lucky enough to have friends “in the system” both as recipients and as “The Man” (HAH!)  So I have more knowledge about resources than most.

I know that I am NOT the only person out there who receives benefits for food and wants to stretch them as far as possible! So here is a guide to help you stretch your benefits!!

Budget your FS each month as other folks budget their cash.
**Very few people receive their benefits on the first of the month.  Know your state’s rules for benefits distribution.  Your benefits could be on your card any time between the 1st and the 10th of the month.  I receive my benefits on the 9th day of the month. so my monthly budget goes from the 9th to the 9th
**Example of budgeting: Peggy Sue receives $400.00 a month for her family of 4. (herself, her husband and her two children) This means she has roughly $92.31 a week to spend on groceries for them. ($400 * 12 months) / 52 weeks = $92.31 weekly
**Plan your meals.  I will admit that I struggle with this but it is kind of necessity! Be sure to plan your meals around the sales.  Find some local blogs that match coupons or use Kristin’s amazing low cost lists to help you plan meals!!! Here are some recipe resources for you:
Menu Plan Monday
A Few Shortcuts

Be sure to use coupons to buy your items each week to drive your cost as low as possible.

If it is convenient for you (or only slightly inconvenient) I recommend that you shop many different stores to get the very lowest prices! If you normally shop Publix but Chicken is on sale for $1.99 / lb at Kroger then WHY would you pay $3.99 / lb at Publix?!

Remember that if you live in a state that has a food sales tax (Tennessee does) that you will have to pay a slight amount for the tax on the coupons so bring some cash to the store with you.

Planning, Planning, Planning!
**One of my biggest pitfalls is not sticking to my list!! Make a list and stick to it!! If your list says 4 of the BOGO fruit cups because that is all you have coupons for then stick to 4!

**Try to grab ALL of the free items available each week.  As many as you have coupons for.  If you have a publix near you i recommend you print, beg, borrow, clip ANY Muir Glen Product coupon you can find and use it to buy the 8oz size of tomato sauce.  You should get around 11¢ of overage for each can but there are so many recipes you can use that stuff in and it’s handy to always have it on your shelf!! (Remember – YMMV when it comes to overage at Publix. Some WILL allow you to get Overage and some won’t. Mine will.)

**I plan my meals around my grocery list.  If chicken is on sale then we have chicken this week, not steak or roast unless I have it in my freezer!

**If you have planned your list out for the week and have money left over it’s okay to save that as a surplus for the following week or month. Your EBT/Food Stamp Benefits ROLL from month to month!!!

**Be sure you are stockpiling at the rock bottom prices so that you don’t have to buy items at full price!!

Know the store’s policy on EBT cards/Food Stamps!!
Walmart handles food vs. non-food with coupons fine.
Kroger handles the food vs. non-food fine.
Harris Teeter also handles it fine BUT their system has definite weirdness going on.  A few times my total should have been like $2-3.00 in cash after I paid with my EBT card and instead it came out to them owing me $5.00….It was very, very weird and I made them keep the money and I have run some numbers but have yet to come out with an explanation for the balance due to me…

Publix is a different animal.

I found out the hard way that Publix coupons all come off of the food stampable total…Even non-food coupons.  I bought a whole bunch of clearance stuff (Shampoo and razors and such) that should be free and I should only pay $3.00 in cash for.  My foodstamp total should have been around $9.00 . My total in cash came to $14.00

I was very confused.  i went to the customer service desk and the manager explained it to me.  He fixed everything for me which was terrific.  Apparently my cashier was new and didn’t know to just automatically have me separate nonfood & food items when using EBT cards.  Now I know and I automatically right away separate my order out.  I’ve been known to go through Publix with 6 orders.  That is the major reason why I try to stick to one or two cashiers who know me well and who don’t mind me or my coupons.

You don’t have to sacrifice your cost of living just because you are having a hard time right now!!

Here is the reality of my situation: I am a single mother. It is not fiscally possible for me to go to work in this economy.  If I were to get just any-old job I would end up further in the hole than I am….day-care, gasoline, wear-&-tear on my car, new clothes, new shoes, and that doesn’t count health insurance premiums and co-pays and the diapers and OTC medication etc for my children. (We are a sickly people.  I single-handedly keep the makers of Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl in business with my kids home with me – when my daughter went to daycare she was sick 3 times the amount she is now – and she is sick at least twice a month as it is!!!)

There are a LOT of people angry at me because they look at me as a lazy leach on society.  They seem to forget that I worked for 18 years before I EVER drew $1.00 out of “the system.” When I was working for those 18 years I paid into the social services programs like everyone else and LIKE everyone else I have just as much of a right to use these services when I need to as anyone else!!! I refuse to make excuses or apologies or anything to anyone.

Some other tips to help out if you are in the boat with me:

Look for other low-income programs:

The YMCA offers low-income programs that are income-based and I believe they offer scholarships or grants so that you can attend without having to pay anything if you qualify.

Your local museum may offer a low-income program.  In Tennessee the Science Center (formerly the Cumberland Science Museum) offers a yearly membership for $20.00 with an EBT card.

You can get a free cell phone to keep you safe if you have an EBT card. Check out Safelink Wireless if you need a cell phone.  They are pre-paid track phones and someone (I don’t know who but I think it’s a tremendous idea!) pays for a certain number of minutes per phone a month.  It is only offered in certain states and that part of their website is down right now so I can’t tell you which ones :( To see if your state participates go to the link and put your zip code in and see if you could qualify if you are in need of a phone!! (And yes, it really is free!)

Check into state supported/paid for insurance programs for your children if you are unable to provide them with insurance.  Your state may have a reduced cost (or free) health insurance option.

If you have small children (5 and under) or are pregnant or nursing PLEASE check into your state’s WIC program (Women, infants and children.) They provide you with food vouchers for your children that can help out tremendously.  If you are unable to nurse and your baby has to use formula they help you out with formula for the first 12 months of a childs life and provide essential foods for your child such as whole grains, eggs, juice, milk and fresh fruits and vegetables each month!! (This program is very easy to qualify for..a LOT of the enlisted folks in the military qualify for WIC….)

If you have small children, and a washer at home, swallow your “ick” factor and check into cloth diapering.  Each disposable diaper costs 41¢ that you are throwing into the landfill. (This is an average number averaging the cost of a newborn diaper and the cost of a stage 5 diaper).  The average child will wear 7000 diapers until they are potty trained (Assuming complete potty training by age 3)  I cloth diaper my youngest.  That reminds me – I need to write a post about that :) So many posts, so little time.  So many whiney children in this house! ;)

Huge very special thanks to Kristin who asked me to write this post three months ago and has patiently waited for me to write it!!! Things are SO CRAZY at my house with two so small as a single parent!!

Please feel free to visit me over at Crazy Coupon Carol or email me at nosunshyne (at) gmail (dot) com if you have questions or need some additional help :)

As you go through your coupons, take out the expired to replace with the great new ones, think about sending your expired to our military members overseas.

Military Mommy reader, Amanda D., shared this link to Overseas Coupon Program. Get your coupons together, read through the adoption section to adopt a base, and send them over. It’s easy and it helps our service members overseas. Another great way to celebrate Military Appreciation Month this month and all year!

(Thanks My Military Mommy!)